Math scores up, reading down on new MEAP tests

April 01, 2011

DETROIT (AP) -- Michigan schoolchildren are getting better at math and social studies but slightly worse in reading as large performance gaps continue along economic and racial lines, according to standardized test scores announced by the state on Thursday.

The Michigan Department of Education released results from tests given last fall to about 800,000 students in grades three through nine. Ninth-graders were only tested in social studies.

The percentage of students taking the Michigan Educational Assessment Program who were proficient or better in math rose in grades five through eight from a year earlier. The biggest increase was for eighth-graders, where the percentage scoring proficient or advanced rose from 70 percent in fall 2009 to 78 percent in fall 2010.

The percentage of proficient third-graders remained steady at fall 2009's 95 percent and fell one point to 91 percent for fourth-graders.

The state Department of Education said that overall MEAP test results show improvements in student performance and a narrowing of achievement gaps since testing began in 2005.

Reading scores fell in grades three, six, seven and eight and were flat in grades four and five. In third grade, the percentage of those scored as competent or better fell from 90 percent to 87 percent and in eighth grade from 83 to 82 percent. Social studies scores rose in grades six and nine, the two grades tested.

Michigan State University educational testing expert Sharif Shakrani said a troubling aspect of this year's MEAP results is the persistent performance gap between white and black, rich and poor students.

Eight-four percent of white eighth-graders scored proficient or better in math, compared with 57 percent of their black peers. Eighty-six percent of white eighth-graders were proficient in reading, compared with 67 percent of blacks.

Sixty-seven percent of eighth-graders whose family income qualified them for free or reduced-price lunches got proficient or better scores in math, and 73 percent tested proficient in reading. The proficiency rate for non-poor eighth-graders was 87 percent for both math and reading.

State schools Superintendent Mike Flanagan said he expects to see a drop in the passing rates on the MEAP tests next year -- not because of a drop in performance but because of a rise in the grade scale.

The Michigan State Board of Education voted Feb. 8 to start raising standards for what's considered a passable score on the MEAP tests. The new scoring scales for math, reading, writing, science and social studies tests could be adopted by June and go into effect during the 2011-12 academic year.